Paul Squires: Some things are not ghosts
some things are not ghosts,
by Paul Squires aka GingaTao
June 25, 2008 at 6:42 pm
so openminded had he become
that he had drifted off
and did not notice the curtains float open
nor sense her approach
Those are the first four lines…I remember the moment I first read all of this poem by Paul Squires. It took my breath away. At the time, Paul was making t-shirts of his poems and ideas at Cafe Press and he made one up for me but I never got around to ordering it.
Usually, I would check his blog first thing in the morning to read what he’d written after work in Brisbane. That was his usual pattern, work, come home, write, post about 7pm Brisbane time–which would usually be past my bedtime in the US!
Today, November 19, would have been Paul Squires 47th birthday. Interestingly, there are three men in my adult life who have had a huge impact on my life as an artist and all three were born on this day.
Paul Squires passed away July 28, 2010 but his poetry lives on at his blog GingaTao or in The Orchid Room, an interactive online salon he started and which continues today. You can order his book, The Puzzle Box. You can even wear one of his poems.
Today, I’m going to try to get around to a few things I’ve been meaning to do but put off. I’m going to open a special bottle of AUS Zinfandel for Global #Zinfandel Day. I’m going to order that shirt. I’m going to write. I’m going to work on getting my book out there, my poetry collection that’s dedicated in part to Paul. I miss you, McPaulus, and I still can’t believe you are really gone.
Have a lovely day full of fantabulous surprises where ever you may be.
Movie Time: Desire & 127 Hours
Man vs. Nature. Man vs. Himself. Pretty elemental ingredients in literature, yet in the hands of director Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, Slumdog Millionaire) these conflicts become the stuff of real life as portrayed in 127 Hours, the real life story of Aron Ralston based on his book Between a Rock and a Hard Place.
This is the classic Greek hero just waiting for a fall, and fall he does, literally and figuratively into a steep crevice, his arm pinned against the wall of the canyon by a huge boulder too big to move.
It is Saturday, April 25 when his adventure begins. It will last the 127 hours of the movie’s title. During this time, Boyle, Franco and the expert cinematographers Enrique Chediak and Anthony Dod Mantle will take the movie going audience on a journey deep into the this desolate desert and deeper into this man’s mind, as well as into his his hopes, dreams and thoughts of his past life and a future life if he survives this horrific ordeal.
Patti Smith Wins National Book Award for “Just Kids” Memoir
Here at Art Predator, we’re happy to hear that Patti Smith won the National Book Award for her memoir Just Kids. Last summer, guest Blogger Ron Wells reviewed and raved about Patti Smith’s Just Kids and which you can read below. Here’s a link to an Interview with Patti Smith.
Learn more about other nominees and winners of the National Book Award here.
via art predator
Springsteen’s Promise Revealed in Box Set
Guess what I’m listening to right now? BRUUUUUUUCE! My husband is a HUGE Bruce Springsteen fan; he’s been breathlessly counting down the days until this new boxed set is released.
Suffice to say right now that it is really cool. So cool that a more detailed blog post is to come!
Poetry from the 3:15 Experiment: This One’s For You, Paul Squires
August 12, 2009 3:15am
for Ginga Paul in AUS where it’s winter
It’s summer inside
and when you wake up in the
middle of the night
and when you get up in the middle of the night
it is easy to be naked
to roam the house
to lie in bed & write
It’s summer outside
and when you look out the window
in the middle of the night
orange lit fog fills the barranca
the power lines crackle & pop
vague outlines float
it looks spooky like Halloween
like it should feel like fall
but we have 6 more weeks of summer.
even if we don’t see
a blue sky during the day
or glittering stars at night
the days are warm enough
for us to walk naked
& that’s all that really matters
that & not having to be anywhere
like school or work
in the morning
written on my mother’s birthday
Paul Squires passed away July 28, 2010, two days before my mom. Both deaths were shocking, sudden, unexpected. August 12, 2010 would have been my mom’s 73 birthday; this Friday, August 19 would have been Paul’s 47. I dedicated my poetry collection middle of the night poems from daughter to mother :: mother to son (en theos press 2010) to Paul and my mother.
To honor Paul’s memory, many of his online friends are gathering at an online bar he started called “The Orchid Room.” It’s an open mic sort of performance space. I invite you to join us there in his memory on his birthday.
For more poetry, ride the Monday Poetry Train. Or check out Paul’s Blog or The Orchid Room. Here’s a link to Paul’s poem Funerary Urn.
“Revenge of the Nerds” ArtRide 11/5
It’s time for another First Friday ArtRide! This time, Sir Daniel will direct traffic as Santa and I will be dancing our booties off at Thievery Corp and Massive Attack at the Santa Barbara Bowl.
Santa and I will definitely be around for the December ArtRide: It’s our third annual Save Santa Santacon Ride! Search on this blog for Santacon and you’ll find directions on how to make your own Santa suit and more info than you can read while drinking an eggnog!
via Bikergo Gal
Are You A Linchpin? Fan of Seth Godin?
The time is NOW if you have any interest in joining Seth Godin’s Triiibes Ning. Not sure why you’d want to? Read this post, then buy and read Godin’s Linchpins or Tribes and you’ll know why…
I just wish Paul Squires aka GingaTao was around to join this with me…
via The Write Alley
Today & manana: dias de los muertos plus a pan de muertos recipe!
Curious about dia de los muertos? Want to make some Day of the Dead Bread aka pan de muertos but need a recipe?
What follows is one of my very first blog posts from November 2007; it will answer both of your questions–and give you some links to poems to read as well including 3:15 poem “If I Died at 55” which is in my new poetry collection Middle of the Night Poems From Daughter to Mother :: Mother to Son (available NOW in chapbook form; available in December bound from en theos press).
via art predator
Happy Halloween! What are you dressing up as?
If you’re looking for an easy dish to bring to a holiday gathering and wonder what wine to match, wonder no more!
Last night I made this simple yet delicious pumpkin soup while we worked on our son’s dragon costume and even though I had my doubts, it paired wonderfully with a 2007 Ghost Pines Merlot. The recipe follows along with more tasting notes.
via Wine Predator
art predator 